The Contract Manufacturer Will Operate its New Sapphire XC Printer at its Lakeland, Florida Facility to Produce Mission Critical Parts in Inconel 718 for its Customers

Velo3D, Inc. (NYSE: VLD), a leading metal additive manufacturing technology company for mission-critical parts, today announced that Valiant Products, Inc., a contract manufacturer serving major industries from medical to outer space, has acquired a fully integrated metal 3D printing solution to expand its additive manufacturing capabilities for its aerospace customers. The purchase includes a Sapphire XC printer calibrated for Inconel 718, a nickel-based alloy that is extensively used to produce parts for aerospace and industrial applications. Valiant plans to upgrade its new Sapphire XC printer to a Sapphire XC 1MZ, which is capable of producing parts up to 1-meter-tall in height.

Founded in 1975, Valiant Products has deep experience in both conventional and additive manufacturing technologies. Over the course of nearly 50 years in business, the company has continually adopted new manufacturing technologies to serve its innovative customers. Valiant Products purchased its Sapphire XC printer after a mutual aerospace customer sought to leverage Velo3D's additive manufacturing technology in its supply chain to produce components for its rocket engines.

"Bob English and the entire Valiant team have a long legacy of adopting innovative approaches to solving their customers' challenges. Through the process of installing their Sapphire XC, we've been continually impressed by their attention to detail," said Michelle Sidwell, Velo3D EVP of Global Sales and Business Development. "With their proximity to the Cape Canaveral launch pads, they will be a great resource for aerospace customers looking to produce parts for rocket and air-breathing engines. We welcome them to our contract manufacturer network and look forward to seeing how our joint customers use their services and our fully integrated solution to transform their supply chains."

Valiant Products is an ITAR-registered contract manufacturer. The company works with many innovative companies in the key industries that leverage metal 3D printing, including space, aviation, energy, and tooling. Other manufacturing services provided by Valiant Products include heat treatment, precision machining, wire EDM, and sheet metal fabrication, which allow the company to manufacture parts and assemblies from start to finish.

"At Valiant Products, we continually evaluate new manufacturing technologies to ensure our customers have access to the best capabilities that can produce the most complex designs and geometries," said Bob English, Founder and CEO of Valiant Products, Inc. "Solutions like Velo3D's metal 3D printing technology unlock new manufacturing capabilities for us so we can better serve our customers. We are confident that our customers will fully leverage the technology to build lighter weight, more performant parts."

Using Velo3D's contract manufacturing network, companies can easily explore the print capabilities of the company's additive manufacturing technology without purchasing a system. This also allows companies to strengthen their supply chains by allowing them to obtain the parts they need across a variety of providers. Because Velo3D offers a fully integrated solution that includes Flow print preparation software, Assure quality assurance software, and the underlying Intelligent Fusion manufacturing process, customers can produce parts across any printer using the same print file without extensive requalification.

Inconel 718 is a high-strength nickel-based alloy that also provides corrosion resistance at extreme temperatures and pressures. The alloy is widely used in the production of mission-critical components in the aerospace industry. By 3D printing parts in Inconel 718, many rocket propulsion companies have been able to significantly reduce the weight of their engines, while improving performance. In doing so, the final engines can increase their thrust-to-weight ratio, enabling the delivery of larger payloads to orbit than is possible with engines produced through conventional means.

About Velo3D:

Velo3D is a metal 3D printing technology company. 3D printing—also known as additive manufacturing (AM)—has a unique ability to improve the way high-value metal parts are built. However, legacy metal AM has been greatly limited in its capabilities since its invention almost 30 years ago. This has prevented the technology from being used to create the most valuable and impactful parts, restricting its use to specific niches where the limitations were acceptable.

Velo3D has overcome these limitations so engineers can design and print the parts they want. The company's solution unlocks a wide breadth of design freedom and enables customers in space exploration, aviation, power generation, energy, and semiconductor to innovate the future in their respective industries. Using Velo3D, these customers can now build mission-critical metal parts that were previously impossible to manufacture. The fully integrated solution includes the Flow print preparation software, the Sapphire family of printers, and the Assure quality control system—all of which are powered by Velo3D's Intelligent Fusion manufacturing process. The company delivered its first Sapphire system in 2018 and has been a strategic partner to innovators such as SpaceX, Honeywell, Honda, Chromalloy, and Lam Research. Velo3D has been named as one of Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies for 2023. For more information, please visit Velo3D.com, or follow the company on LinkedIn or Twitter.